Combination of selector switch and knee control



June 20, W7 M. A. SLAATS 3,327,047

COMBINATION OF SELECTOR SWITCH AND KNEE CONTROL Filed Nov. 8, 1963 Sheets-Sheet. 1

28 30 ORGAN HEPEHT GENERHTOR HMPLlF/lz/f 32 IN VEN TOR. MP) THE u/ H. SLHHTS HTTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 2@, H967 M. A. SLAATS COMBINATION OF SELECTOR SWITCH AND KNEE CONTROL Filed Nov. 8, 1963 United States Patent 3,327,047 COMBINATION OF SELECTOR SWITCH AND KNEE CONTROL Mathew A. Slaats, Jasper, Ind, assignor to Jasper Electronic Mfg. Corp., Jasper, 11111., a corporation of Indiana Filed Nov. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 322,335 Claims. (Cl. 841.24)

This invention relates to musical instruments and is particularly concerned with an electric organ, and more particularly still is concerned with a novel control arrangernent for controlling certain special effects to be created by the organ.

Electric organs are of course well known and comprise, generally, generator means for generating audible frequencies and means for varying the wave form of the generated frequencies to control the tonal characteristics thereof. The last mentioned means takes the form of adjustable steps or stops so that tonal effects of a predetermined nature can be created at will as, for example, effects simulating string or wind instruments.

More recently, and in particular in connection with electric organs, because of the adaptability of the electric circuits, certain specific effects have been built into electric organs such as marimba, banjo, guitar and other effects of this nature. The marimba and banjo depend on the use of a repeater circuit, so that upon depressing a key the note selected by the key sounds repetitively to simulate the striking of a bar as in the marimba or the plucking of a string as in connection with a banjo. This is readily accomplished in an electric organ by the provision of a repeater circuit to which the signal from the organ generator is delivered and from which repeater the signal is, in turn, delivered to the amplifier in the form of a rapidly repeating signal as mentioned above.

Still another special effect that can readily be built into an electric organ is the effect of a Hawaiian guitar which, basically is an effect produced causing a tone to be initiated about a half step and then increasing in pitch rapidly to the designated frequency of the particular note. This can be done quite readily by modifying the pitch of the organ generator by connecting an auxiliary capacitor in the tank circuit of the oscillator thereof, which will effect the desired reduction in pitch of the note, and then disconnecting the auxiliary capacitor which will bring about an increase in pitch of the note to the standard pitch according to the particular key depressed.

Amongst other effects that can be employed are the vibrato, which can be used in connection with violin type tones and trombone slide and any other special effects simulating various instruments; all, in general, being concerned with some periodic or characteristic variation in the pitch of the tone being produced.

The particular effects being referred to are not such effects as it is generally desired to maintain for any substantial length of time during the playing of the organ. Rather, the effects referred to are in the nature of special effects that are brought in briefly to simulate a solo instrument in an orchestra, for example. Conventionally, special effects of this nature are controlled by the manually operable stops or tabs on the organ and it is, of course, possible to bring the effects in and to drop them by manual manipulation of the stops or tabs, but this is inconvenient and requires considerable skill and can interfere with the rhythm of the player. The present invention is directed in particular to an improved arrangement whereby special effects of the nature referred to can be pro-selected and then cut in and out as desired without the necessity of the organ player manipulating the organ stops or tabs at any specific time during the playing of the organ.

3,327,047 Patented June 20, 1967 ice With the foregoing in mind, it will be evident that the primary object of the present invention is the provision of an electric organ having stops or tabs for effecting special effects and in combination therewith a control arrangement for making an actuated stop or tab selectively effective or ineffective at the will of the player.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of control means in combination with an electric organ for selecting special effects during the playing of the organ which .is extremely convenient for the player to use.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of an electric organ having circuitry for creating special effects and including control means for making the special effects selectively effective at the will of the player without substantially complicating the organ circuitry and without interfering in any way with the normal ope-ration of the organ.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view of an electric organ embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic view showing in general the manner in which the present invention can be practiced;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing a somewhat modified arrangement wherein a greater number of special effects can be controlled;

FIGURE 4 is a schematic view showing more in detail the manner in which the special effects are created and the manner in which they are made selectively effective and ineffective according to the present invention, and

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are schematic views showing different positions of a selector switch forming a part of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, FIGURE 1 shows an electric organ generally indicated at 10 and having an upper keyboard 12, a lower keyboard 14 and a pedal keyboard 16. The organ is provided with a plurality of stops or tabs 18, usually grouped in accordance with the particular keyboard to which they pertain and associated with the row of tabs are usually other control elements such as the knobs 20 which can be used for controlling tone brilliance, vibrato speed and other characteristics of the organ which it is desired to have under manual control.

According to the present invention, certain ones of the tabs 18 are provided for the purpose of creating what has been referred to as special effects, and in addition thereto there is provided a selector switch 22 cooperating with the special effect tabs, and still further the organ comprises knee switch means 24 positioned for engagement by the knee of the player for selective actuation of the knee switch means. The knee switch means are arranged toward the right side so that the knee pertaining to the foot that normally rests on swell pedal 26 can be employed for actuating the knee switch means, thus positioning the knee switch means in the most convenient possible position.

FIGURE 2 shows, in general, what is accomplished by the present invention. FIGURE 2 shows a portion of the upper keyboard 12 and a portion of the tab panel pertaining thereto and in carrying tabs 18. The keys of the keyboard 12 control organ generator 28 which supplies oscillating current in the audible range to amplifier 30 from which the amplified current passes to the speakers 32 wherein it is converted into sound.

The organ generator has connected thereto via certain ones of tabs 18, which are actually switches, circuit elements such as repeater 34 and other circuit components generally indicated at 36, 38 and 40 which serve to modify the supply to amplifier 30 to obtain the particular effect pertaining to the circuit component that is made effective by the closing of the pertaining tab 18.

In addition to the selecting of a predetermined special effect by the closing of the pertaining tab, the said effects are still further under the control of the aforementioned selector switch 22 referred to previously. This selector switch has movable contact means 42 engageable selectively with contact means 44 pertaining to the several circuit component units pertaining to the aforementioned special effects. Selector switch 22, which is manually adjustable into any of its several positions, is in circuit with the knee switch means 24. The knee switch means has an ineffective position in which case the selected special effect is ineffective, but the knee switch means can be moved toward the right by the players knee to control the contact means 46 thereof, thereby to make the special effect selected effective. The bringing in and out of the special effects is thus under the control of the knee switch means and the manual selector switch 22 and the tabs 18 pertaining to the several special effects.

FIGURE 3 illustrates how the knee switch means could be arranged in multiple with a first knee switch means 48 on the right side of the players knee and a second switch means 50 on the left side. Each knee switch means is in circuit with a different selector switch 52, 54 and by this expedient more than one special effect could be preset and selectively controlled during the playing of the organ.

Turning now to FIGURE 4, there is schematically illus trated therein an arrangement showing how four special effects could be controlled. It will be understood that there could be more or fewer of the special effects, but only four are illustrated for the sake of simplicity. The four selected are marimba, banjo, Hawaiian guitar and violin vibrato.

In FIGURE 4, the primary oscillatory stage of only a single note is illustrated, but it will be understood that there would be provided at least twelve oscillators to cover the entire range of notes in one octave, while by employing dividers the total range of notes available could be extended to cover the entire keyboard of the organ. In FIGURE 4 the oscillator tube illustrated is identified at 60 and it receives power from a power supply generally indicated at 62. The tube feeds a series of dividers generally indicated at 64 which have points connected to the keys of the keyboard 12. Tube 60 includes a tank circuit 66 having an inductor 68 and a capacitor 70 connected in parallel. The tank circuit fixes the oscillation frequency of tube 60 and one of the other or both of the inductor or capacitor are adjustable so that exactly the right frequency can be obtained.

I The keys of the keyboard 12, when depressed, supply the signal selected from the organ generator, which is made up of the tube 60 and dividers 64 pertaining to any key depressed, to a line 72 which leads to the various tabs 18 pertaining to that particular keyboard, in this particular case to keyboard 12. All of these tabs are not illustrated but only those pertaining to the special effects that are to be controlled in accordance with the present invention.

Each tab 18 is normally closed on a grounded conductor 74, and when actuated into effective position will break the ground connection and instead make connection with one or both of the lines 76, 78.

Considering first the marimba tab, which is a double contact tab, when this tab is actuated connections are made with both the lines 76, 78. The signal from line 72 that passes through the circuit component 80 pertaining to the marimba, is connected through one side of the tab switch with line 78 and is delivered to a circuit component 82 which is a repeater station. In the repeater station the continuous signal delivered by way of line 78 is repetitively interrupted or caused to repeat at a predetermined rate so that the effect of striking a bar with a hammer is simulated. The repetitive signal thus developed in repeater station 82 is supplied to line 84 which runs back through component and is connected by the other side of the marimba tab switch to line 76 leading to amplifier 86 whence the signal is delivered to the speaker means 88.

The marimba tab referred to is indicated at 18M and will be seen to comprise two independent blades closed on grounded conductor 74 in the ineffective position of the tab and each of which contacts a different one of lines 76, 78 when the tab is in effective position.

According to the present invention it is desired for the selected special effect to be made selectively effective or ineffective, and to this end the repeater station 82 is made selectively effective and ineffective to control the aforementioned marimba effect. The repeater station, which is a special oscillatory circuit, includes therein a tube 90 having a cathode or other control element 92 which, when grounded, makes the repeater station effective for supplying signals to line 84 and, when open circuited, makes the repeater station ineffective and interrupts the supply of signals to line 84.

As will be seen in FIGURE 4, the tube control element, namely, cathode 92, is connected by wire 94 with one contact 96 on one of the two banks of the contacts pertaining to selector switch 22. Each bank of contacts has conductive segments adjacent thereto to make connection between the contacts as the switch is snapped from position to position.

Contact 96 is engageable with portion 98 on a contact segment 100 of the upper bank of the switch which is arranged for rotation by knob 102 of the switch which has a shaft 104 extending through discs of the two switch banks. Contact segment is also engaged by contact 106 which is connected with blade 108 of knee switch 22 and which blade is normally closed on an open contact 110. When the switch is actuated by the players knee, however, blade 108 will close on a contact 112 that is connected with a switch contact 114 that engages another conductive segment 116 of the upper bank of the selector switch, and this segment has a portion 118 engaged by grounded contact 120. It will be evident that with the setting of selector switch 22 illustrated in FIGURE 4, actuation of the knee switch 24 will selectively connect cathode 92 of the tube 90 to ground, thereby making this tube, and the associated repeater station 82, selectively effective. The marimba effect, upon setting of the tab 18M pertaining thereto and the selector switch 22, is thus under the control of the knee switch and can be brought in and dropped out at the will of the player.

FIGURE 4 shows a circuit component for the vibrato and this component includes a tube 132 which must be effective for maintaining the circuit component in an oscillating position. This tube has a control grid 134 which is connected to a line 135 which, when grounded, prevents the vibrato station from oscillating and, when open circuited, permits the station to oscillate. The plate of tube 132 is connected in circuit with primary 136 of the vibrato transformer and the other side of this primary has a connection back to power supply 62 for a supply of voltage thereto. The secondary 138 of the vibrato transformer is connected to impose the vibrato frequency on grid 140 of the organ generator oscillator tube 60.

Connected with line 135 is an on-off switch 142, and with this switch in the off position and with selector switch 22 in its marimba position, the terminal of switch 142 that is connected with line 135 leads to a contact 144 the lower bank of contacts of selector switch 22 and this contact engages conductive segment 146 of the lower bank which, in turn, engages grounded contact 148. This arrangement maintains the vibrato ineffective whenever the selector switch is adjusted to marimba position and on-off switch 142 is in its off position.

FIGURE 4 also shows the manner in which the banjo effect is controlled. This is accomplished by a circuit component 150 similar to marimba circuit component 80 and containing circuit elements for modifying the signal to similate the sound of a banjo. Associated with banjo circuit component 150 is the double bladed tab 18b, and when this tab is moved to effective position the signal from line 72 is connected to line 78 and passes to the repeater station '82, and from this repeater station the signal passes back line 84 and through the other blade of tab 18b to line 76 leading to amplifier 86.

In connection with the banjo it is desired for the repeater station to oscillate at increased frequency, and to this end, there is a control resistor 152 connected to a line 154 leading to a contact 156 on the lower bank of selector switch 22.

The switch connections made in the selector switch when adjusted to banjo position are illustrated in FIG- URE 5, and it will be apparent that the same connections are made in the upper bank of switch 22 that were made for the marimba setting of switch 22, whereas in the lower bank it will be seen that contact 156 is connected with grounded contact 158 by conductive segment 160 of the lower bank. This last mentioned connection makes resistor 152 of the repeater station effective for increasing the repeater frequency, whereas the connections in the upper bank of switch 22 place the operation of the repeater station under the control of knee switch 24 as has been described in connection with the marimba effect.

Accordingly, it will be seen that with the banjo tab 18b in effective position, and the selector switch 22 adjusted to its banjo position, the banjo effect is completely under the control of the knee switch 24 and can be brought in and out at the will of the player.

FIGURE 4 taken in connection with FIGURE 6 illustrates a still further effect, namely that of the Hawaiian guitar.

With reference to the Hawaiian guitar, a circuit component 162 is provided through which the signal of line 72 passes to the tab 18g which can be closed on line 76 to supply the signal to amplifier 86.

The Hawaiian guitar effect does not employ the repeater station but is, in effect obtained by first flatting a note about a half step and then allowing the pitch of the note to increase more or less rapidly to its designated frequency. The flatting of the note, as mentioned previously, is accomplished by connecting an auxiliary condensor into the tank circuit of the main oscillator tube for each note. In FIGURE 4, the auxiliary condensor for the one oscillator tube is designated 164, and it is connected on one side to the tank circuit of the oscillator tube and onthe other side is connected with a contact 166 that is normally open circuited. This contact is one of twelve associated with a slide relay generally designated 168. The other eleven of the contacts of this relay are connected with the other eleven auxiliary condensors associated with the other oscillator tubes. This slide relay has further grounded contacts 170 and has a blade pertaining to each of the aforementioned contacts. When actuating coil 172 of the relay is energized, the armature 174 of the relay is moved downwardly and the blades of the relay interconnect all of the contacts thereof with each other and with ground. Closing of the relay is thus effective for connecting all of the auxiliary condensors in parallel with the pertaining condensors of the tank circuits of the oscillator tubes and all of the tones developed in the organ will be correspondingly flatted. Deenergization of the relay will, of course, disconnect the contacts making the auxiliary condensors ineffective and restoring the designated frequency of the tank circuits.

The relay 168 according to the present invention is controlled in the following manner. Power supply 62 includes a secondary coil 176 connected on one side with one end of relay coil 172, while on its other side second ary 176 is connected through diode 178 with contact 180 pertinent to the upper bank of selector switch 22.

The side of relay coil 172 opposite its connection with secondary 176 is connected by line 182 with contact 184 also pertaining to the upper bank of contacts of selector switch 22.

As will be seen in FIGURE 6, when the selector switch is adjusted for Hawaiian guitar, contact 180 is connected by conductive segment with contact 106 which leads to blade 108 of knee switch 24.

It will also be seen in FIGURE 6 that contact 184 is connected by conductive segment 116 with contact 114 which leads to contact 112 of the knee switch. At this point it will be evident that with the selector switch adjusted to its FIGURE 6 position, coil 172 of relay 168 will be energized when the knee switch is closed and deenergized with the knee switch released. The opening and closing of relay 168 is thus under the control of the player, and the Hawaiian guitar effect can be created by closing the knee switch immediately prior to depressing a key and then opening a switch after the key is depressed whereupon a tone will be initiated fiatted and will glide rapidly upwardly to its designated pitch.

In connection with the Hawaiian guitar effect, it is preferable that the vibrato be made ineffective and this is done by extending line 135 to a contact 186 of slide relay 168 so that whenever slide relay 168 is energized, line 135 will be grounded through the slide relay thereby grounding grid 134 and making the vibrato ineffective.

The final special effect illustrated in the drawings is that of violin vibrato and the control of this effect will be seen upon reference to FIGURES 4 and 7. The signal from line '72 passes through circuit component 183 and the tab switch 18v to line 76 and thence to amplifier 86. The circuit component, in connection with circuit components 80, 50 and 162, is operative for controlling the timber or quality of the tone.

Turning now to FIGURE 7, it will be seen that contact 144 which is connected with line 135 is in engagement with conductive segment 146 of the lower bank of switch 22, and that this segment also engages a contact 190 which is connected by line 192 with movable blade 194 of the knee switch 24. Movable blade 194 normally engages grounded contact 196. It will be seen from the foregoing that when knee switch 24 is not actuated and with the selector switch 22 in its FIGURE 7 or violin vibrato position, line 135 is normally grounded thereby preventing the vibrato station from oscillating. Actuation of the knee switch however will move blade 194 away from contact 196 and this will open circuit line and permit the vibrato component to oscillate, thereby causing the notes being played to pulsate the vibrato frequency. It will therefore be seen that with the violin vibrato tab 18v in effective position and with selector switch 22 in its FIGURE 7 position, the violin vibrato can be brought in and out selectively by operation of knee switch 24. At this time no other part of the selector switch 22 is effective.

It will be understood that many other effects could be controlled by the arrangement according to the present invention in the same manner and including, as mentioned before, more than one selector switch and a knee switch associated with each thereof.

It is further understood that the conventional tabs pertaining to the organ are manipulated in the conventional manner and that the entire organ operates in a conventional manner, and that it is only the special solo effects that are controlled by the arrangement of the present invention. The conventional circuity pertaining to the organ and the other tabs and control elements pertaining to the organ have been eliminated from the showings for the purpose of simplification.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modifications in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electric organ having tone generator means and electro acoustic transducer means, and key switches controlling the supply of signals from said generator means to said transducer means; circuits operable for modifying the signals supplied to said transducer means by said generator means for obtaining special sound effects and normally ineffective, selector switch means connected to said special efiect circuits and adjustable for pre-selccting a particular special effect circuit to be used during the course of playing, and independent manual switch means separate from said key switches in circuit with said selector switch means, said manual switch means having a spring bias urging it toward a normally open position and being actuatable by the player of the organ into closed position against said spring bias, said manual switch means opening due to said spring bias when released by the organ player, said manual switch means providing means for selectively making the said p re-selected circuit effective and ineffective during normal playing of said organ at the will of the organ player.

2. The combination according to claim 1, in which said manual switch means is adapted for actuation by a knee of the player.

3. The combination according to claim 1, in which said selector switch means comprises two selector switches each connected to different ones of said special effect circuits and each selector switch being operable to select a single one of the special effect circuits connected thereto, said manual switch means comprising a manual switch connected in circuit with each selector switch, and said manual switches being arranged for actuation singly or jointly, each said manual switch being spring biased toward open position.

4. The combination according to claim 3,'in which said manual switches are adapted for actuation by one and the same knee of the player.

5. The combination according to claim 1 in which said selector switch means is a rotary switch.

6. In an electric organ; generator means, electronacoustic transducer means, playing key means in circuit with said generator means and said transducer means operable when actuated to cause the generator means to supply signals to the transducer means, a plurality of the circuit components arranged in parallel between the generator means and the transducer means for modifying the character of the signal to the transducer means, a tab switch pertaining to each of at least some of said circuit components for making the respective circuit components selectively effective, certain of said circuit components having auxiliary circuit components connected thereto operable when effective for creating special effects, each auxiliary circuit having a control element connected in controlling relation thereto operable for making the respective auxiliary circuit component effective, a selector switch connected to said control elements, a selectively operable manual switch separate from said playing key means and connected with said selector switch, said manual switch being adapted for being placed selectively in circuit with said control elements in controlling relation thereto by adjustment of said selector switch, spring means biasing said manual switch toward a normally open position, and said manual switch being operable when actuated by the organ player for controlling the said control element to which it is connected for making the pertaining special effect of the organ selectively elfective during normal playing of said organ, said manual switch being operable by the knee of the organ player into closed position and by said spring means into open position when released by the knee of the player and providing means for initiating and interrupting the special effect selected by said selector switch at the will of the organ player and without requiring the player to' move either hand from normal playing position adjacent the playing key maens of the organ.

7. The combination according to claim 6 in which one of said auxiliary circuit components is a repeater and at least one of the said control elements is effective for making the repeater circuit operative or inoperative.

8. The combination according to claim 6 in which one of said auxiliary circuit components is a repeater and the said control elements include one element for making the repeater operative or inoperative while another element controls the speed thereof.

9. The combination according to claim 6 in which one of said auxiliary circuit components is a vibrato creating circuit operatively connected to said generator and the said control elements comprise an element for making the said vibrato creating circuit operative or inoperative.

10. The combination according to claim 6 in which one of said auxiliary circuit components comprises impedance means associated with said generator and effective for reducing the oscillation speed thereof to flat tones by about a half step, and the said control elements comprise a relay connected to control the connection of said impedance means with said generator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,196,401 1/1913 Severy et al 84l.08 2,854,879 10/1958 Anderson 84l.24 2,924,137 2/1960 Peterson 84l.26 3,039,347 6/1962 Krauss et a1. 841.0l 3,118,961 1/1964 Peterson 841.17 3,146,290 8/1964 Park 841.03 3,207,835 9/1965 Holman et a1. 841.03 3,255,296 6/1966 .Peterson 84l.24

ARTHUR GAUSS, Primary Examiner.

B. P. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN ELECTRIC ORGAN HAVING TONE GENERATOR MEANS AND ELECTRO ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER MEANS, AND KEY SWITCHES CONTROLLING THE SUPPLY OF SIGNALS FROM SAID GENERATOR MEANS TO SAID TRANSDUCER MEANS; CIRCUITS OPERABLE FOR MODIFYING THE SIGNALS SUPPLIED TO SAID TRANSDUCER MEANS BY SAID GENERATOR MEANS FOR OBTAINING SPECIAL SOUND EFFECTS AND NORMALLY INEFFECTIVE, SELECTOR SWITCH MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SPECIAL EFFECT CIRCUITS AND ADJUSTABLE FOR PRE-SELECTING A PARTICULAR SPECIAL EFFECT CIRCUIT TO BE USED DURING THE COURSE OF PLAYING, AND INDEPENDENT MANUAL SWITCH MEANS SEPARATE FROM SAID KEY SWITCHES IN CIRCUIT WITH SAID SELECTOR SWITCH MEANS, SAID MANUAL SWITCH MEANS HAVING A SPRING BIAS URGING IT TOWARD A NORMALLY OPEN POSITION AND BEING ACTUATABLE BY THE PLAYER OF THE ORGAN INTO CLOSED POSITION AGAINST SAID SPRING BIAS, SAID MANUAL SWITCH MEANS OPENING DUE TO SAID SPRING BIAS WHEN RELEASED BY THE ORGAN PLAYER, SAID MANUAL SWITCH MEANS PROVIDING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY MAKING THE SAID PRE-SELECTED CIRCUIT EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE DURING NORMAL PLAYING OF SAID ORGAN AT THE WILL OF THE ORGAN PLAYER. 